A private Florida Christian school is not backing down in its pledge to refer to students by their biological gender, not their ‘preferred’ pronouns.
In early June, the Grace Christian School in Valrico, which is located approximately 20 miles east of Tampa, sent out an email to parents with the subject line: “Important School Policy Point of Emphasis. … Please Read.”
“We believe that God created mankind in His image: male (man) and female (woman), sexually different but with equal dignity,” the email stated, NBC News reported.
“Therefore, one’s biological sex must be affirmed and no attempts should be made to physically change, alter, or disagree with one’s biological gender — including, but not limited to, elective sex reassignment, transvestite, transgender, or non-binary gender fluid acts of conduct (Genesis 1:26-28),” read the email from Grace Christian School Administrator Barry McKeen.
According to the school’s policy, “Students in school will be referred to by the gender on their birth certificate and be referenced in name in the same fashion.”
“We believe that any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, transgender identity/lifestyle, self-identification, bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery, and pornography are sinful in the sight of God and the church (Genesis 2:24; Leviticus 18:1-30; Romans 1:26-29; I Corinthians 5:1; I Corinthians 6:9; I Thessalonians 4:2-7),” the email to parents added.
“Students who are found participating in these lifestyles will be asked to leave the school immediately,” the email warned, as McKeen went on to note that the school’s policies do not permit unmarried heterosexual students to become overtly sexual in their behavior.
“God condemns any sexual activity outside of marriage,” McKeen told Fox News. “I tell people, if a kid came in the doors, exclaiming how he was having sex with his girlfriend, that student would be expelled as well.”
The administrator went on to point out that the policy of excluding LGBTQ students has been in effect since the school began operating nearly 50 years ago. McKeen also told Fox News that the email was sent to parents so they would have the opportunity to “agree to all policies and procedures before your student may start school in August.”
After rejecting NBC News requests for comment and facing backlash over the policy, McKeen, who has served the Grace Community Church for more than two decades, uploaded a video to Facebook in which he addressed the situation.
“I chose not to talk to the reporter, because usually based on the call sign, based on the channel, you can usually tell what they’re trying to say and what they’re going to be trying to prove and I think it was clear from the get-go that this person is, is not for us, but against us,” McKeen said regarding the NBC News correspondent who contacted him.
The pastor also said that the school’s policy against transgender and homosexual students is “rooted in the scriptures.”
“God has spoken on those issues explicitly, aggressively,” he said, adding that “almost every Christian school” that he knows of has a similar policy.
“I’m not going to backpedal. And it is our policy now. It will be our policy going forward. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He does not change,” he said.
“We are not a hateful group of people,” he went on to say. “We don’t hate students who are of a particular persuasion. The biggest issue that happens in this culture is because you believe something and you stand for something – that you’re automatically hateful. We are not hateful. Probably that’s the thing in the article that hurt the most.”
“This is a private Christian school where parents choose to send their kids to the school,” he said. “And it’s not for everybody.”
“The Bible says God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. We’re not going to change because God’s not going to change. And we’re not going to be hateful, but we’re not going to back down from this policy. This has been our policy that this is our policy, and this will be our policy,” McKeen concluded.
